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In pictures: Magic materials

This article was taken from the October 2012 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by <span class="s1">subscribing online.

In University College London's engineering department, hundreds of the world's most unusual substances surround Zoe Laughlin in unpacked cardboard boxes. One by one, she draws another strange material from its case -- stardust-catching aerogel, metal that cries, sand that can't get wet -- sharing with wired some of her library's prized pieces. She is the creative director of the Institute of Making, and curator of its treasured Materials Library, a vast, ongoing collection of curious and counter-intuitive substances. It has been amassed over several years with the assistance of codirectors Martin Conreen and Mark Miodownik who sought out and acquired items from research labs and enthusiasts' workshops around the world. "We want to bring all these materials together in a dedicated space open to the public," Laughlin says. "Celebrating everything from the art to the science, craft, engineering, design and musicality of materials."